May 02, 2011

Emanuel, Daley profess 'one mayor at a time' while sharing the stage

Editor's note: The following story was set to run in Monday's paper. It even briefly made an appearance on the home page Sunday night. And then the Osama bin Laden news hit and it ended up on the cutting-room floor. Here it is, restored to its original glory.

Posted by Kristen Mack at 7:15 p.m.

The day after he was elected, Rahm Emanuel issued a matter-of-fact reminder: “There will be one mayor at a time.”

“It is not my job to plant my car in front of his,” Emanuel said of Mayor Richard Daley, the politician he’ll soon succeed.

Yet Emanuel is gunning it full speed ahead.

On Monday, he's set to announce Garry McCarthy, the police director in Newark, N.J., as Chicago's new police superintendent, a transition source said. He's been front and center for a couple of weeks, unveiling his choice for Chicago Public Schools CEO and highlighting a slew of other team members day after day. Privately, he's been involved in negotiations for major education reform in Springfield.

Daley, meanwhile, is on a relatively quiet neighborhood farewell tour, a last victory lap after running the city for 22 years.

Emanuel won’t be sworn in until May 16, but you could forgive folks for thinking he’s already mayor.

It’s partly the function of a longer-than-usual lame-duck period. Emanuel sewed things up Feb. 22, sidestepping the April 5 runoff election many expected. In Washington and Springfield, major changes often are pushed through during the interregnum. In Chicago, the rare change of leadership means city government idles.

Despite the potential for breaches of etiquette and bruised egos, Emanuel and Daley say there’s no tension. After all, Emanuel worked on Daley’s first winning mayoral campaign, and the mayor’s political organization helped Emanuel get elected to Congress.

“(Daley) knows that I’ve got to hit the ground running, and he respects that I have to put a team in place … given the challenges we as a city collectively face,” Emanuel said last week. “I not only applaud what he’s done ... I will keep applauding it after he leaves office.”

Daley said it’s important to have a smooth transition and doesn’t mind the attention his successor is getting.

“There's no flaws or any difficulties,” Daley said last week. “That's very important.”

Emanuel’s sense of urgency is underscored by a city budget shortfall next year that could approach $1 billion with day-to-day expenses and pension requirements.

To get the city’s financial house in order, the incoming mayor will have to chart a new course, he said.

“I happen to know in the chief executive’s office, the choices are between bad and worse,” Emanuel said as he introduced his finance team at the Standard Club.

How bad is the budget? “You’ll need two pillows when you sleep tonight,” he said.

Emanuel jokes that his wife, Amy Rule, once said if they had a fourth child, she would name it Patience — “maybe as a subtle reminder of the value.”

The mayor-elect has attempted to turn his lack of patience into a virtue.

Half of city public school students don’t graduate from high school, violent crime continues to plague parts of the city and some people have been jobless for years, Emanuel said.

“Now if you think you need someone who is just patient and not ready to break some eggs to get things done, then the 55 percent of folks who voted for me made a mistake,” Emanuel said last month.

Emanuel’s pivot started slowly. Initially, he paid deference to Daley, yielding the spotlight to the mayor at high-profile, symbolic events.Daley was on hand for Wal-Mart’s March announcement that it plans to add two Chicago locations. Emanuel spoke at the ribbon-cutting of a Sav-A-Lot store on the South Side.

The current mayor sponsored his family’s traditional float at the St. Patrick’s Day parade his father inaugurated in 1956, basking in the revelry as he hoisted an Irish-style walking stick. Emanuel, in turn, made a brief appearance at the Irish American Heritage Center, where a pint of Guinness was shoved in his hand as he walked in the door. He took one sip.

The dynamic allowed Daley to start leaving the stage and provided Emanuel time to put his team together while he sized up the challenges he faces when he takes office.

As lawmakers in Springfield were negotiating the details of education reform, Emanuel acknowledged he was in communication with them because he could not afford to wait.

“As I’ve said previously, there is only one mayor at a time,” Emanuel said after he spoke at a luncheon for the Young Women’s Leadership Charter School.

“We unfortunately … it is what it is. I get sworn in on May 16. The (legislative) session only goes for another two weeks, so I don’t want to lose that time. I’m respectful of the mayor who is the mayor here at this point.”

A few weeks later, after the Senate passed the bill 59-0, Emanuel revealed greater involvement. He also stopped using the one-mayor-at-a-time catchphrase.

Emanuel acknowledged he spoke with House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton and met with lead negotiator Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, in his Chicago office for 90 minutes the day before the measure passed.

“We’re not done with the bill, meaning I’ve got to get the House to pass it, which I feel good about,” Emanuel said, sounding more like a former White House chief of staff than the mayor-in-waiting.

Emanuel also has conveyed his desires to civic leaders before officially assuming the bully pulpit.

Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts came to Emanuel looking to revive his Wrigley Field renovation plan shot down last year by Daley and Gov. Pat Quinn. The mayor-elect told the Cubs owner the plan, which would set aside future gains in city and county ticket taxes to pay for ballpark improvements, is a “nonstarter.”

Emanuel also communicated daily with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood as his good friend played mediator with the airlines to work on O’Hare International Airport expansion. The last-minute infusion of more federal money allowed Daley to depart office with a partial victory and let Emanuel avoid a thorny issue for a few years.

Even though Emanuel doesn’t yet hold the honorific, aldermen and others have taken to calling him mayor. That doesn’t seem to faze Daley as he prepares to cede the office.

Asked two weeks ago if he had any intention of taking part in a shadow mayoralty once he leaves City Hall, Daley broke out Emanuel’s pet phrase.

“No, no, definitely no. We have one mayor. One mayor, that's all,” Daley said. “I want to make sure Rahm Emanuel will be the mayor May 16, and he will have the bully pulpit. He will have the responsibility.”

All 50 aldermen on the Chicago City Council had to file paperwork earlier this year detailing their outside income and gifts. The Tribune took that ethics paperwork and posted the information here for you to see. You can search by ward number or alderman's last name.

The Cook County Assessor's office has put together lists of projected median property tax bills for all suburban towns and city neighborhoods. We've posted them for you to get a look at who's paying more and who's paying less.

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